This is an old post. My 15 minutes of fame as promised by Andy Warhol. This happened in 2008. I went out with three cameras, took about 80 photographs, went home, edited them and published the webpage at 3 pm on the Sunday afternoon. I also sent out an abbreviated email at the same time. By Monday morning a colleague phoned me and said he had an email from New Zealand about a storm in Cape Town and he wanted to know if that was really me in the picture. All in the all the website hit just over a 1 GB of traffic in a hectic 36 hour period. 18 Months later, I met someone in McGregor who recognised my email address from that day. I even had the credit for my photos stolen by someone. Fame indeed. So buckle up and join me on a trip to Camps Bay and Sea Point to see an ancient storm.
Camps Bay Beach
Sunday and the newspapers (that tells you how old this post is!) were telling of a huge storm and I headed to Camps Bay.
Waves are difficult to shoot so that they look impressive. You need a body, preferably not drowning or in trouble. Or a yacht, equally not in trouble. I did try to give an impression of the size of the waves but it was difficult! Trust me though, they were huge! The first one shows the foam that eventually was the main star of the show. It looks boring and kinda quiescent here, but just wait.
Keeping lenses clean was a mission. Throughout this series of pictures you are gonna see spots and blotches. Take that it as a sign that there has been no post processing and that I was there on the spot.
Sea Point
And then I decamped to Sea Point and things changed dramatically!
For one thing you could see the storm still hammering in.
This was the car park at the end of the promenade and foam is starting to make its mark.
These young boys just loved the foam!
No real water here, just foam.
This wave is a long way out and huge. No bodies make it impossible to tell what you are seeing.
A trig beacon provides a bit of a reference.
This picture was an accident. The rain was pouring down. Nope wait the rain was coming in at about 10 degrees to the horisontal and the lens got wet, at least the filter did and this very painterly picture was taken.
Rainstorm!
The cars got covered in foam.
Walking in the wind was difficult. A lot of the time I walked backwards into the wind, protecting the cameras from the rain and foam.
This picture was almost my undoing. I wanted at bit of the sea wall so I climbed down to get it. While I was down there a deceptive “little” wave of foam roared up the slope and nearly covered me completely.
Nice storm front and the sea as a foreground.
More foam racing in to try to catch me.
Art Picture moment here. But seriously, look at the palm fronds, the wind was ripping and tearing at them.
The approach of the foam is stealthy. You think you have a little bit of foam.
And then there is that “Oh, NOOOO” moment.
In my case “Oh SHHHHHH!” I ducked and hid the camera.
Cars cannot dodge so easily.
This wall of foam was nearly a metre high.
Alien art picture.
A safer sea wall – at least I thought it was.
And then it snuck up behind me.
Dedication.
That foam wave closer in is actually racing outwards!
Check the size of this one. It did get me!
And them! What a gallant man. He was covered in foam!
Care for a seat by the sea?
There were people taking pictures all over the place. This woman chose a safe place to do her composing. Sensible.
And here is Sea Point pool. No sun bathers here either.
And here I am, covered in foam and completely happy with my Sunday’s photography. Thanx to a young lady who took this picture for me.
